WEEKLY WHINE

Traffic doesn’t stump Edvard

Did you know that there is quite a bit of vehicular traffic in the Los Angeles metropolitan area?

In fact, according to a report from INRIX, traffic is worse in Los Angeles than in any other US city [though the New York City metropolitan area is damn close]. No other US city, not even Chicago, manages half of New York’s or Los Angeles’s congestion.

So what is to be done? Don’t you wish there was an expert on everything who could offer some better solutions? Don’t you wish this expert actually lived in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and could apply first hand experience to the problem? Don’t you wish this person was not Dutch?

Well, we can offer two of the three. “Dynamite Eating” Edvard van de Kamp has reviewed the report and the traffic in Los Angeles, and he is willing to apply his knowledge to your questions.

Dear Edvard: It seems like the 91, from Anaheim to Corona, is the worst stretch of road in the entire US. Is that true?

– Raul Garcia
Norco, CA, USA

Dear Raul: No. According to INRIX’s report, the 91 eastbound, from the 55 to McKinley St [just past the 15] is the second most congested corridor in the US, behind the 95 southbound in New York from Conner St to the Henry Hudson Parkway. Still, at the worst time, that portion of the 91 takes 81 minutes, as opposed to 20 minutes in normal traffic.

Dear Edvard: What really sucks about Los Angeles traffic is that it’s unavoidable. In most cities, if you’re driving against the flow, like if you’re going downtown in the afternoon, you get much less traffic. But not in LA. In LA, everything is backed up in every direction. I don’t understand. What can we do?

– Ja’Nesha Collins
Placentia, CA, USA

Dear Ja’Nesha: There is indeed bad traffic in all directions in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The report says that the Los Angeles metropolitan area has 24 of the 100 most congested corridors in the country, including five of the top ten. Both directions of the 10 between Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles made the list.

As for what you can do, you could always try not driving everywhere.

Dear Edvard: I would like to avoid traffic by taking a train or something to work. But I live in Villa Park and work in Long Beach. To get to work, I would have to drive to the Metrolink station in Orange, take the train to Union Station, and then take the Red and Blue Lines to Long Beach.

– Wilhelmina Grytse
Villa Park, CA, USA

Dear Wilhelmina: If there are transit options that you think should exist, you should contact your representatives in local, state, and federal government and tell them that you want them to fully fund improvements to public transportation in your area. Many representatives do not realise how many of their constituents favour public transportation and would make use of it were it a feasible method of reaching their particular destination. Besides, you could always take the Metrolink to Norwalk, take the shuttle to the Green Line station, and then take the Green and Blue Lines to Long Beach.

Dear Edvard: Don’t tell me not to drive. I like driving.

– Tyler Nogurez
Upland, CA, USA

Dear Tyler: If it takes you an hour to travel a fifteen mile stretch of the 10, is that driving? No. That is sitting around on your ass for an hour alternating between the accelerator and brake pedals. You don’t have to sell your car. Just take public transit to work every now and then.

Dear Edvard: Can it really make a difference if some people take public transportation?

– Will Gracepark
Sherman Oaks, CA, USA

Dear Will: Yes. Imagine if fifty percent of everyone who works in the Los Angeles metropolitan area took public transit one day per week. Just like that, we’re cutting traffic ten percent every day. That’s ten percent fewer automobiles on the road every day.

Unless everybody chooses Monday, of course. So don’t do that. Choose whatever your garbage day happens to be.

Dear Edvard: Everyone says that people should take public transit, but some of us don’t have that option. I work in El Segundo, but I live in Chatsworth. There is no way to get from Chatsworth to El Segundo without changing buses or trains three times.

– Jonathan Bermudeo
Chatsworth, CA, USA

Dear Jonathan: Sure there is. Just take the LADOT Commuter Express 574 bus. There is a Park and Ride lot in Granada Hills. It couldn’t be any more convenient for you.

Dear Edvard: I don’t like driving. It’s totally stressful.

– Lindsay Lohan
Los Angeles, CA, USA

Dear Lindsay: I agree.

Dear Edvard: Why are so many Angelenos not aware of the great work that my colleagues at the Los Angeles Metro are doing every day of the year?

– Edina Perry
Los Angeles, CA, USA

Dear Edina: I would say “Because they’re dumb”, but I don’t think that’s it. I think people are just too attached to their cars to realise that if they just rely on them a little less, they can save time and money, all whilst improving the air they breathe, reducing our impact on the environment, and cutting their country’s energy deficit.

So maybe it is because they’re dumb.